A Kingdom Divided
by crappyfriend
Summary: Ruby had been told that Beacon was where her parents learned the importance of teamwork, honesty and kindness. Where your teachers and fellow students would turn your weaknesses into strengths. Beacon had changed a lot since then, and not for the better.


Ruby could barely contain her excitement as they stood before the large gate that led into Beacon Academy.

It was hard to believe that they had finally made it here.

"They really don't want any intruders with doors like that." Said Yang, her dearest sister.

The doors must have been five times her height and surrounded by walls equally tall. To think she had finally made it here.

"Remnant to Ruby." Yang waved her hand in front of Ruby's face. "Don't you think we should go in at least, there is more to Beacon than the entrance. We don't have much time before initiation either."

Ruby almost started the discussion that they had on the bullhead here, almost. They should have been much more clear about the weight limit and how much she was allowed to bring. That they arrived at the school an hour later than planned was only partially her fault.

They would still make it to initiation in time with the time they had left, hopefully.

"I just wanted to enjoy the moment." She huffed. "We got plenty of time."

"Ten minutes isn't exactly plenty of time. Dad always told us how big Beacon was in his time and how hard it was to navigate the first time he came here."

Ruby took out the temporary pass they had been sent and pressed against the card reader on the door. A small beep and a green light were the only warnings they had as the doors slowly opened. They went down into the ground at a speed that made her feel slightly impatient. It gave her plenty of time to calm Yang though.

"He said that so we wouldn't come here at the last minute, which we kind of did. There's no way there isn't a guide waiting behind the gate. We can't be the only people that got here at the last minute." She confidently stated as the doors opened fully. The massive gate had, finally, retreated fully into the ground and she could now see Beacon Academy fully.

The courtyard alone was almost as big as Signal. The fountain that stood in the middle of it had a statue of the last King on top. He stood with his arms spread out and a kind smile on his face. It made Ruby feel a little less nervous as she looked upon it.

She could have made a comment about the buildings, the garden or how it felt like dad hadn't been wrong about how massive everything was. She could only feel panic and dread as she looked around.

"There's no one here at all." The entire courtyard was deserted.

She couldn't see anyone that could point them in the direction of where initiation would be. There wasn't even any signs or a big map that had a big red circle that showed where they were.

"I guess that's ho-" Ruby only heard the first part of what Yang said as she had used her semblance to look for someone or anything that could help them.

It didn't long before an answer to their problem arrived in the form of a guy around their age in the easily recognizable Beacon uniform. She went towards him and managed to barely keep her balance when she stopped in front of him. She wanted to ask him the way to initiation but was stopped by the harsh glare aimed at her. One only needed to look at the ground to what the reason could be, a pile of papers laid on the ground.

"Sorry about that." She gathered together the items with the thought that this was not the best first impression. "Here. I hope that they aren't damaged."

He took the papers and didn't say anything except for the sudden understanding look he got.

"Your here for the initiation aren't you?" His glare had gone down to mild frown, which Ruby took as a good sign.

"Yeah, we're also late and have no idea where it is." A nervous laugh escaped her. "Is there a map we could use or could you point us in the right direction?"

"I feel for you, I had the exact same problem when I first came here. I'm not allowed to give you a map since you're not a student yet and you would probably get lost if I only told you the way. It was only thanks to another student that I made it in time for initiation. This place can sometimes feel more like a maze than a school." The frown had turned into a small smile. "Maybe it's my time to become the person that helped me back then, I do have the time."

"Thanks, I don't know what we would have done without your help." Ruby could hear footsteps from behind her and saw Yang with a slightly dishevelled appearance. "Yang, I found someone to guide us there."

"Good. Next time it would be nice for you to warn me before you speed up. Got a handful of rose petals into my mouth and in my hair." She ruffled her hair which caused dozens of petals to fall out of her hair.

"Sorry about that. We're ready to go then... what was your name?"

"My name is Sky Lark, heir to the Lark Household." He did a small bow.

"My name is Ruby Rose and this is my sister Yang Xiao Long. We aren't nobles so we aren't really heirs to anything." She did a small bow and curtsied shortly after when she remembered how they did it in the movies.

If she remembered correctly from her very limited knowledge about nobles, then it was usually the eldest that inherited a Household. Yangs the oldest so would that mean she would get dad's house? It's a question he should ask him about later.

"Shall we hurry to our destination then? It's not too far from here but we should still hurry." He went down one of the many paths that led out of the courtyard.

They wordlessly followed him walked in silence for a minute before he broke it.

"Where are you guys from, hope it wasn't too long of a journey for you. I had to come all the way from Arcadia and it took the bullhead hours to get to Beacon." He wanted to small talk and Ruby was happy to answer.

Maybe they were already in the process of getting a new friend.

"We're from Patch so it didn't take too long. Only two hours at the most from here still managed to be late even then."

"Patch, where is that exactly? I don't think I've heard of it."

"It's a small island not too far from Vale." Sky stopped suddenly which made her crash into him.

"Sorry about that. I just need to be sure we were going in the right direction." His head swivelled left and right until he pointed at a large rectangular building in front of them. "Initiation is held in that building. It's usually used for spars but was reserved for initiation today."

Ruby made sure to not use her semblance this time as she ran towards the building normally. She tried to open the door, only to find it locked and the temporary pass didn't open it either.

"Are you sure this is the right place Sky?" Yang tried her temporary pass on it too, which didn't work either. "The door isn't opening."

He pulled up his scroll and pressed it against the electronic lock. The door was pulled open and they could finally begin their initiation.

"It's a good thing you made in time too. If one is late for initiation then one loses their chance to attend Beacon."

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief at that, she doesn't want to think what she would do if that happened. To lose before you had even gotten on the starting line.

Yang had already gone inside and she was about to follow when Sky grabbed her arm.

"I just wanted to say something before you went inside." His grip tightened to a painful degree and the tone he spoke withheld none of the warmth it had before. "Welcome to Beacon."

She was thrown through the door and into the building, the door slammed shut as she was still trying to understand what had just happened. It was only when Yang tried to open the door and even attempted to punch it open, which only left a dent that she understood. The building they were in was entirely empty except for them. They couldn't get out either if not even one of Yang's punches did anything.

There was nothing they could do except to wait until someone found them and let them out. It would be too late at that point which meant that Ruby would be sent home if what Sky said was true.

Welcome to Beacon indeed.


End file.
